Faire Binney Movies

Howard Hawks hoped to capture the screwball comic fervor of his 1938 film Bringing Up Baby with his 1952 comedy Monkey Business. As in the earlier film, Cary Grant stars as an absent-minded professor involved in a research project. This time he's a chemist seeking a "fountain of youth" formula that will revitalize middle-agers both mentally and physically. Though Grant's own laboratory experiments yield little fruit, a lab monkey, let loose from its cage, mixes a few random chemicals and comes up with just the formula Grant is looking for. This mixture is inadvertently dumped in the lab's water supply; the fun begins when staid, uptight Grant drinks some of the "bitter" water, then begins cutting up like a teenager. A harmless afternoon on the town with luscious secretary Marilyn Monroe rouses the ire of Grant's wife Ginger Rogers, but her behavior is even more infantile when she falls under the spell of the youth formula. Everyone remembers the best line in Monkey Business: foxy-grandpa research supervisor Charles Coburn hands the curvacious Monroe a letter and says "Get someone to type this". Even better is his next line: after Monroe sashays out of the room, Coburn turns to Grant and, with eyes atwinkle, murmurs "Anyone can type." Likewise amusing is Monkey Business's pre-credits gag, wherein Cary Grant opens a door and is about to step forward when director Hawks, off-camera, admonishes "Not yet, Cary." Among the co-conspirators on Monkey Business's carefree script are Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer and I.A.L. Diamond, with an original story by Harry Segall (Here Comes Mr. Jordan) as their source. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This independently made feature boasted to have an all-star cast. That statement had a certain amount of truth to it; the names of these actors were certainly well-known in their day. But, they were minor stars at best, and their fame did not extend much beyond the silent era. Rufus Asher (Kenneth Harlan) believes that Barbara Wier (Jane Novak) is plotting to run off with Edmund Hyde (David Powell), who is married to Asher's sister, Linda (Faire Binney). To put a halt to the affair, Asher kidnaps Barbara and hides her in a mountain cabin. But Barbara sends word out to Hyde of her whereabouts through a tramp. Asher goes out for supplies and when he returns unexpectedly, Barbara thinks it's the tramp, coming back to attack her, and shoots at him. Asher is wounded, and as Barbara nurses him back to health, she explains what was really going on -- she and Hyde were working to stop Linda from running off with Hugh Langely (Bradley Barker). Her friendship with Hyde is completely innocent. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This drama glorified the lowly postman, which probably warmed the heart of Will H. Hays, the head of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association -- he was a former postmaster general. Dan O'Brien (Brandon Tynan) loyally stays at his mailman job, even when his pal Michael O'Hara (Charles McDonald) offers him a chance to go into business. O'Hara's son Tom (Chester Morris) secretly marries the O'Brien's adopted daughter Peggy (Faire Binney). When O'Brien retires, his pension isn't enough to live on, so his son Terrence (William Collier Jr.) gets a job at the post office to help out. O'Brien allows Brady (Tom Blake) to spend the night at his house, and he gratefully leaves some money. But Brady is a mail robber and the cash is marked, so O'Brien is arrested. Brady and one of his associates attempt to rob a mail train, but Terrence, who is clerking, stops them. Brady escapes, however, and attempts yet another robbery. Once again, he is foiled by Terrence. Finally he confesses and clears O'Brien's name. O'Brien is officially thanked by the postmaster general, and when the marriage between Peggy and Tom is revealed, it brings the two families together again. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Handsome Conway Tearle stars in this crime drama. Even from childhood, Billy Clifford (Jerry Devine) has shown a streak of good -- he saved another boy (Bobby Connelly) by taking the rap for a crime and wound up in reform school himself. Now, as an adult (played by Tearle), Clifford is a gambler, but he's the only one in town who plays fair and square. This still doesn't win any points with Mayor Morely (James Seeley) when Clifford falls in love with his daughter, Helen (Faire Binney). But then Helen is kidnapped by Clifford's partner to keep his gambling hall from being raided. Clifford comes to the rescue, but he has to kill a man to save Helen. Although Clifford has now won Morely's admiration, it looks like he will still wind up in prison for life. But Governor Talbot (John P. Wade) -- who was the boy he had saved so many years before -- gives him a pardon. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Frederick Osborne (Harry T. Morey) is a self-made man whose wife, Frances (Kathlyn Williams), is a naive but eager social butterfly. She heads off for New York and Atlantic City and befriends a couple, Cordelia and Jack Wilson (Grace Valentine) and Roland Bottomley). What she doesn't realize is that they're crooks who prey on the nouveau riche, and they've all but blackmailed Arthur Lynn (Matt Moore), who is engaged to Frances's daughter, Lucy (Faire Binney). When Osborne discovers that his wife is getting into trouble, he orders to return home to Toledo, but she insists on inviting her supposed friends along. A family rift explodes when Osborne orders the Wilsons out of his home. But Cordelia has a change of heart and decides not to ruin the family members lives. As she leaves, she gives Osborne a stern lecture about the necessity of being a more understanding husband. He takes her words to heart and his family benefits from his improved attitude. This drama was based on the play by Anna Steese Richardson and Edmund Breese. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

It's obvious that this picture's screenwriters, Carey Wilson and Edmund Goulding, were referencing D.W. Griffith's Intolerance -- it begins in ancient Rome before taking its theme to modern-day (meaning 1920) New York. The Rome depicted here is at its most decadent and sensational, with Christians being sacrificed and gladiators fighting in front of a bloodthirsty crowd. And New York is almost as bloodthirsty. To destroy the happiness of a woman who jilted him years ago, a broker (Anders Randolph) kidnaps the woman's daughter Laura (Ray Dean). Her nouveau riche father, John Grimm (Gustav Von Seyffertitz) arrives from Nebraska to search for her. More complications arise when Laura and the broker's son Gordon (Edmond Lowe) fall in love. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide